With everything that’s gone wrong for the Panthers this season, the last thing they needed were questions about Jacob Markstrom.

But that’s what they’ve got.

The 23-year-old goalie — pegged as the club’s goalie of the future — was thrust into action this year after Jose Theodore was lost to a torn groin, and the returns haven’t been great.

Markstrom’s been wildly inconsistent en route to a less-than-stellar stat line: 6-11, 3.17 GAA, .903 save percentage. He’s also been hooked three times in 15 games.

On Tuesday, he allowed five goals on 18 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Islanders, with the fifth — a backhander from Michael Grabner — ending his night prematurely.

Markstrom was replaced by Scott Clemmensen, which led to this tirade:

“Everybody that’s been a goalie that gets pulled knows that it’s not fun, it’s embarrassing, it’s tough,” Markstrom told the Florida Sun-Sentinel. “I’m angry at myself. I want to play good hockey when I’m out there; I want to be a factor when we’re winning games.”

Equally concerning were the quotes Florida goalie coach Robb Tallas gave to the Sun-Sentinel.

“[Markstrom] needs to work on video, go home and continue to grow and come back for a fresh start,” Tallas explained. “There are no guarantees in this league. You’ve got to earn spots in this league. They’re not handed to you.”

Tallas acknowledged Markstrom was in a tough spot. The team in front of him isn’t very good, and he’s often going up against clubs fighting tooth-and-nail for playoff spots.

But Tallas also said the Swedish netminder “has to make a big save to turn the game around,” and that Florida was “trying to keep his confidence right now.”

The big question most will ask is if Florida mishandled Markstrom by throwing him into this situation. He wasn’t given much of an opportunity to succeed.

The New York Islanders made a splash on Friday, signing veteran forward Cal Clutterbuck to a five-year, $17.5 million extension — one that carries a $3.5 million average annual cap hit through 2023.

Clutterbuck, 29, has two goals and nine points through 25 games this year, while averaging 15:26 TOI per night (his highest average since joining the Isles four years ago). As per usual, he leads the club in hits — one of the staples of his game — and serves as one of the club’s alternate captains.

This new contract represents a nice raise for the former Minnesota Wild man. His last contract, set to expire in July, was of the four-year, $11 million variety, and carried a $2.75 million cap hit.

This contract also resembles the one GM Garth Snow gave another of the club’s role forwards. This summer, Casey Cizikas signed a five-year, $16.75 million extension — one with a $3.35 million hit — despite the fact he’d never scored more than 30 points in a season, or averaged more than 14 minutes of ice time.

This style of spending — along with splashes made for free agent disappointments Jason Chimera and Andrew Ladd — is sure to raise some questions. The Isles opted not to spend that money on retaining two of their key players from a season ago, Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo, and the club has struggled to find its form through the first quarter of this year.

“We’re not going to give out any numbers now,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said yesterday, per Yahoo Sports. “The cap could range from where it is now to a couple or so million up, but we’re all going to have to focus on what makes the most sense moving forward.”

The salary cap only went up slightly for the current season, from $71.4 million to $73 million. The only slight increase was due to the lower Canadian dollar, which negatively impacted last season’s league revenues by “$100 or 200 million,” Bettman said earlier this year.

The loonie has been holding relatively steady for around half a year. It’s currently worth $0.76 USD and has been helped by the recent oil rally.

A flat salary cap would be bad news for big spenders like the Chicago Blackhawks, who still need to get Artemi Panarin signed to an extension. The Los Angeles Kings could also be forced to make some tough decisions, as they’ve got Tyler Toffoli and Tanner Pearson in need of new deals. Ditto for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have key RFAs in Brian Dumoulin, Justin Schultz, and Conor Sheary.

Henrik Lundqvist has set such a high bar that his 12-8-1 record with a .912 save percentage is cause for great concern these days in New York.

That his backup, Antti Raanta, is 6-1-0 with a .932 save percentage only contributes to that concern, because if Raanta can manage those numbers, what’s Lundqvist’s excuse?

“I feel like I’m tracking the puck well, moving well,” Lundqvist told the Daily News. “It just comes down to some bad decisions at times that cost me.”

Indeed, December has not started well for The King. He’s allowed 10 goals in three starts for a save percentage of .894. In Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to the Islanders, his decision to poke check a loose puck led to the winning goal by Andrew Ladd.